Betsson to Be Official Regional Sponsor of Conmebol Copa América 2021
Betsson has secured a deal for the official regional sponsorship of the prestigious CONMEBOL Copa America 2021 football tournament. The announcement comes days after the championship was relocated from Argentina to Brazil due to Covid 19 concerns in the original host nation.
Betsson will sponsor the 2021 Copa America championship as it goes ahead in Brazil this month. ©Gustavo Ferreira/Unsplash
The long-awaited Copa America 2021 tournament takes place in Brazil this summer
The deal has the potential to be a huge gain for the Swedish company, who have been making inroads into the Latin American market over the last year along with many other European competitors. In April of this year, Betsson purchased a 50% stake in JDP Tech, a software development business that owns a proprietary technology platform for handling payments in Latin America. That deal followed the purchase of a 75% stake in Brazil-facing Suaposta in late 2019, as well as a 70% share of the Colombian operator Colbet in late 2020.
This push to establish a presence in the region has moved rapidly, with an apparent focus on some very high-profile marketing – the company wasted no time in securing sponsorship deals with Peru’s Liga 1 football championship and Chile’s national football team. Their sponsorship of Copa 21 will surely extend brand awareness to new heights across the continent, given the popularity of the tournament which attracted a massive 3 million viewers to its 2019 final.
“At Betsson, we are passionate about sport, especially football and what better way to show this passion than by being part of the oldest national team football championship in the world. The sponsoring of CONMEBOL Copa América 2021, is a further commitment towards our ambitions for this region We will be part of the entire journey to keep fans engaged with compelling, authentic experiences.”– Jesper Svensson, CEO of Betsson Operations, Corporate News
The partnership will give Betsson an expansive range of marketing opportunities, including perimeter board signage and video boards in the stadium, press backdrops, and banners on the tournament’s official website and mobile app. The company will be the exclusive sponsor of the ‘Player of the Week’ polls on CONMEBOL Copa America’s official social media channels, as well as the ‘Match Line-up’ for all 28 matches.
Further to this, Betsson will have the opportunity to promote its Colombian brand Colbet while Colombia is playing in the championship.
Juan Emilio Roa, the commercial director of CONMEBOL stated:
“We see this partnership as a milestone in CONMEBOL Copa America history. It connects football lovers through the sports passion and cheerful experiences with their national teams’ performance in the world’s most traditional national teams competition.”
Will Covid 19 uncertainty sour the deal?
Doubtless the deal is a good one for the Swedish giant, but it may be too soon to start celebrating just yet. The championship, which will bring together ten Latin American national teams, was set to take place in Argentina and Colombia but was relocated to Brazil with just 13 days’ notice.
Set to begin on June 13th, it remains clouded in some uncertainty in the wake of the abrupt relocation. CONMEBAL announced the decision in a statement on May 31st. Brazil hosted the last iteration of Copa in 2019 and were its champions, so many Brazilian fans will doubtless be excited to return with strong odds on home turf.
Cause for concern remains, however, as many politicians, public figures, and players have made statements questioning the wisdom of going ahead on June 13th. After Colombia and now Argentina were forced to pull out due to civil unrest and surges in Covid cases, it may come as a surprise to some that Brazil has stepped in. Brazil has been among the worst affected countries in the world during the pandemic, and has been worse hit than any other country in the continent. With the first match approaching, there are warnings emerging of a third wave.
We will have to wait and see whether these stirrings develop into more serious threats to the championship going ahead, but for now the competition seems on track to begin as scheduled. Fans worldwide are gearing up to place their bets on the formidable teams involved.
Attention will doubtless be on star players like Argentina’s Lionel Messi, who, at 33 years old, may now have his last chance to bring home the Copa trophy. Argentina and Brazil are neck and neck as the favorites to win the tournament, but it’s set to be an exciting competition, with Colombia and Uruguay showing a lot of promise.
